Laurel Park

With a soft ping that sounds like a digital chef's kiss, another bid is in for Fasig-Tipton's May Sale online. The diverse catalogue might be conducted via fiber, but the horse flesh here is once again bona fide as the platform continues to set a virtual ring standard. One of the more intriguing hips you will find among the lots is no. 122. Holding down that page we find 3-year-old Lionel (Authentic--Sweetgrass, by Street Sense). The colt broke his maiden at first asking by an eye-catching 9 1/2 lengths at...

Dave Rodman, announcer at Maryland's racetracks since 1991, has been named recipient of a Special Award of Merit for his contributions and positive impact on the racing industry. Rodman will be presented with the award at the May 15 Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course. A native of New Orleans, Rodman worked as a deejay at various radio stations before calling his first race at Jefferson Downs in 1981. He moved to Louisiana Downs in 1985 before becoming the track announcer for the Maryland Jockey Club, calling races at Pimlico,...

7th-Laurel, $48,710, Msw, 5-4, 3yo, 1m, 1:39.45, sy, 9 1/2 lengths. LIONEL (c, 3, Authentic--Sweetgrass {MGSP, $330,145}, by Street Sense) stepped forward to keep the leader in his sights as he stalked the pace through :24.40, :47.83, and 1:13.16 splits from three off the rail, eventually taking a commanding advantage. Moving well but floating out a touch greenly as they rolled off the turn, Lionel kicked away from the field to win by 9 1/2 lengths over Kitty's Son (Cupid). The victor is the most recent to the races for...

With a handle of $5,536,944 wagered on the 12-race "Preakness Preview Day" program at Laurel Park, the new Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) set a handle record Saturday, according to a release from the organization. Two "Win Today, See You in May events" were contested Saturday, as well as the first stakes races on turf in the state of Maryland for the year. The $150,000 Federico Tesio Stakes offered a fees-paid guaranteed spot in the starting gate for the GI Preakness Stakes, while the Weber City Miss Stakes offered the same...

Maryland-based jockey Forest Boyce was airlifted to the hospital after her mount unseated, and then fell on her, before the first race Sunday at Laurel Park. Boyce suffered injuries after her mount, first time starter Z Bogdan (Uncle Lino) reared up, dislodged her, and then fell on top of the rider as the horses entered the track for the post parade. While prone on the track, Boyce could move her extremities, and was initially placed into an ambulance before being airlifted to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at...

News this week out of the Maryland state legislature has mainly concerned lawmakers moving oversight of the rebuilding of Pimlico Racecourse (among other industry operations) from the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) to the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Maryland Economic Development Corporation. What garnered far less coverage was the successful passage of another bill that designates $250,000 annually for the next two fiscal years towards needed services for the backstretch staff living and working at Laurel Park. "I think this is unique," said Mary Kay Vavasour, who volunteers...

Luis Gavignano's involvement in horse racing, which began innocently enough with a few claiming horses at Laurel Park in 2017, has blossomed into a racing, breeding and pinhooking operation with its own burgeoning home base in Ocala. His Lugamo Racing, with a dozen broodmares to support its graded-stakes winning first-season stallion, as well as a new stakes winner among its 10 horses in training, will offer 14 juveniles at the upcoming Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Gavignano traces his love of horses back to his...

   The following continues a look at how long-term economic developments shape today's Thoroughbred sport. To read part I, click here. Defining Development #5--Real Estate Realities Has there ever been a time when rising real estate values have not heavily influenced the physical locations of Thoroughbred breeding farms and racetracks? This economic maxim has been especially dominant in the U.S. in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. As for breeding farms, anyone who has driven over the past four decades along Harrodsburg Road south of New Circle Road  in...

The Puerto Rico Horse Owners Association, Inc. (PRHOA) has agreed to drop a year-old federal lawsuit over allegedly unsafe surface conditions at Camarero Race Track after the owners of the island's only racing venue finally agreed to a long-sought demand by the plaintiffs to allow John Passero, the noted track-safety consultant who once served as the track superintendent at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, to inspect the track. After a Feb. 10-12 inspection by Passero deemed that Camarero's dirt surface "was generally in good condition [and] not suffering at...

That the figures recently released by the Jockey Club from its Equine Injury Database showed another significant drop in the number of fatalities was good news, but hardly surprising news. The numbers seem to get better every year. But dig deeper into the data presented by the Jockey Club and there is a number that is quite surprising and encouraging. In 2024, dirt tracks were almost as safe as synthetic tracks. There were 1.18 fatalities per 1,000 starts on the dirt, which came very close to the number in the...

Coming off a weekend in which Laurel Park ran eight races on Sunday with 48 starters and nine races on Saturday with 55 starters (with three four-horse fields between the two days), the non-profit  (TMJC), which took over the management of Laurel and Pimlico Race Course this year, is banking on a combination of better weather, an upcoming schedule break, and a new carryover structure for the Pick Five to boost field sizes and betting handle. In response to a query from a commissioner, Bill Knauf, the president and general...

Hillwood Stable's multiple graded stakes winner Post Time (Frosted) was named 2024 Maryland-bred Horse of the Year, champion older male and champion sprinter when last season's champions were announced the week of Feb. 24 on the MHBA's social media accounts. Trained by Brittany Russell, Post Time won last year's GII Carter Stakes and GIII General George Stakes. On the board in all 15 career starts, with nine wins, the 5-year-old has earned $1,227,910 on the racetrack. Other Maryland champions announced last week include: champion 2-year-old male: Studlydoright (Nyquist); champion 2-year-old...